Foreign Affairs committee  That's a difficult question, but it is absolutely key, because I think for any conflict you find anywhere in the world, if years later people are still situated in IDP camps, you haven't solved the problem. So in fact that's where our efforts are. Beyond the immediate concerns,

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes. The discussions involve a number of Commonwealth countries. The first part of it is true, a number are willing to participate to do different things. On the Commonwealth as an institution secretariat, I don't know the answer, but I can find out and get back to you through th

Foreign Affairs committee  I would hope my colleagues could chip in here, because you're asking for a personal reflection of what we can do. I had a very good colleague, who was the Norwegian ambassador from Sri Lanka, and he did take me through this process. But it was at a different time, in the sense t

Foreign Affairs committee  Mr. Dewar, I might add just a quick comment as well. There are the people from CIDA, from the humanitarian group, who are there. We also have 12 Canada-based staff, and I can assure you there is nothing else they're doing these days but looking at the issue here. That includes th

Foreign Affairs committee  The short answer is yes, but it's not just the Commonwealth. As I mentioned in my remarks, we have regular meetings—and I don't mean once a month, I mean once every one or two days now—with our G-8 partners and with the co-chairs, a regular daily kind of update. We're watching re

Foreign Affairs committee  As I mentioned, I'm going to be at the Asian Development Bank meetings. We've been talking to our colleagues at the World Bank and other places, because all of us are looking at this in terms of what kind of development would be needed over the long term and short term, that is,

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you. There were seven questions in one there. The first part is that I've expressed Minister Cannon's priorities, which are, number one, a humanitarian pause, which is the same as you have said. You can work on the displaced persons--you can do that--but where people are a

Foreign Affairs committee  We use a figure of 250,000, although our colleagues at Canadian immigration use a slightly lower figure. The reason is because immigrants, as opposed to second and third generation...it's a little bit of how you count people. We take the larger figure because we believe the peopl

Foreign Affairs committee  I don't think we're at the step of sanctions as yet within the UN or within the Commonwealth, or with anybody. We see a country that is close to ruins, and it is going to need assistance at the other end to get them to the state, as you said in your first question.... While we a

Foreign Affairs committee  There are several different assessment things. We have people on the ground right now. In fact, this evening, Colombo time, our high commissioner is meeting with the foreign minister and others. So it's not a case of contacting them; we're in daily contact. The issue is getting

Foreign Affairs committee  Oh, yes.

Foreign Affairs committee  The answer is yes. We're looking at the immediate humanitarian issues that have already been raised, but you cannot solve this by short-term steps. The short term is only to make sure that people survive. The long term is what kind of life they're going to live. At all levels,

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you for the question. But perhaps there is another side to that issue. You used the word “self-determination”; we believe the situation has gone beyond an internal situation. The nations of the world, the diaspora around the world...many people have an interest in what th

Foreign Affairs committee  Sure, I'll take the first crack at it. Let me preface this by saying that this will be a quick reaction, and I think it obviously requires a lot more discussion with you and others. First, I think we're all in agreement that the biggest issue is how to save lives. There are two

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. It is truly a pleasure to be here today with old friends and colleagues. Mr. Chairman, I'm here to provide you with an update on the current situation in Sri Lanka and the conflict between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eela